Star Princess 4-3-10 Eastern Caribbean (Long)

[khfadpi]

We have been back for over a week now and I am just now sitting down to write my report. Traveling: me, husband, daughter 23, son 21, daughter's friend 21, friends Larry, Barbie, Kristen 16 and some of Larry's family. We have been on the Star once before and Caribbean Princess twice. Here goes...

 

Saturday April 3rd - Arrived at Terminal 2 around 11:30 even though we were told not to come before 1pm. The lines were open and we walked right on. We were in our rooms by 12 and soon in the Horizon Court for lunch. We called our friends who were sailing with us and they hurried over from their hotel and were soon onboard too without any problems. They had a scavenger hunt/ treasure hunt on the ship which we did. My name was pulled out for the shopping gift certificate ($50) during the sailaway party. So was my friend Barbie's. Things were off to a good start. We had anytime dining and went to the Capri around 7 and got a table for 8 no waiting. Food was good as usual. We went to the show in the theater, comedian was terrible. We have since come to the conclusion that since the Star was doing just 3 cruises in the Caribbean before heading to Northern Europe for the summer they really couldn't book any long-term comedians, etc. They just had to take what they could get. Ship was dead at 11pm, very unusual for a Easter Week cruise and 2841 passengers on board.

Easter Sunday April 4- Princess Cay. Ate breakfast in the dining room. It was very good. Good coffee. We were one of the first tenders over to the island. Son came about 30min later. Sun was in and out. We decided to go back to the ship for lunch around 12ish. Friends had stayed on the ship and had seats at the pool on the back of the ship. We stayed there until after the ship pulled out that afternoon. Great afternoon of sun and laughter. Again, we had no problem getting a table that night. We went to the casino later and then up to Skywalkers.

Monday- Sea Day- The wind was so bad they would not let you sit on the port side that day. Chairs were scarce because of this and its a good thing we were out early. We had seats up top facing the MUTS. We saw whales jumping in the afternoon. Awesome. It was hot even with the high winds, everyone got alot of sun that day. Formal night we ate in the Capri again. Food was really good. Went and heard the captain speak afterwards. Saw the show in the Princess Theater. It was good. Changed clothes and went to Explorers for Princess Pop Star. Alot of fun. Band played disco and everyone danced. Better than the comedian.

Tuesday- St. Maarten- We were up and ready to get off when it docked. We have been to this island 3 times and we had never been to the French side. We had already decided to get a taxi to Orient Beach 1st thing. We were on the beach there by 10:30. It was beautiful!! So glad we went. Started back to Philipsburg around 2:30. We were shopping by 3pm. Good day, back on ship at 5. Ate dinner in Portofino dining room about 7:30 and went to Princess Pop Star round 2.

Wednesday- St. Thomas- We got off early and went uptown to do a little shopping. Came back to the ship for lunch with all intentions of going to Emerald Beach afterwards. No one was at the pool so we decided to stay there and we watched "Up" on MUTS and enjoyed the quiet. Good choice. Nice afternoon.

We joined our friends on top deck for sailaway. 2nd Formal Night. Dinner was in Portofino -good again. We went to the Vista Lounge for the Motown show. It was good.

Thursday- Grand Turk- Since we didn't dock until 1, we went to the main pool for the morning. I won the Trivia Contest that was done up there. I won 4 princess ballcaps. Son and Daughter helped with some answers. Husband helped a little. We ate cheeseburgers for lunch. Excellent.

Grand Turk was beautiful. We walked past Margaritaville and went down to Jack's Shack. Chairs were $5 snorkle masks without fins were $5 too. It was like swimming in air the water was so clear. I could spend a week here. I love this type of island. We went in the shops on the way back to the ship. Sat on the back of the ship and watched the sun set. Beautiful. Lobster tail and Giant King Prawn night. Very good.

Friday- Sea Day- Got seats on upper deck at back. Stayed out all day. Very hot and relaxing. Went in and started packing. It takes me a week to pack before we leave then I have to cram in all in before dinner. We don't know what happened but the service at dinner was terrible. We were there for over 2 hours and had to leave before they got our dessert order so I could get all the luggage out. We are very tolerant people, but the service was horrible no food was coming out of the kitchen. We went to the Vista lounge for the Princess Pop Star finals then sat in the Atrium until 12 reflecting on the cruise with our friends.

Saturday- April 10- Friday night's dinner was an omen of bad things to come. We were held up disembarking because of a gangway problem. We were supposed to get off at 8:10, but it was really 9:30. Then we came in at Terminal 29- 3 miles from Terminal 2 where the car was. The Crown was at 2 and they had left from 29 the week before. Talk about a mess. It was awful..Princess had these little bitty shuttles trying to take everyone to the parking deck at 2 and the line was a mile long. Taxi's were only going to the airport. And our luggage was just dumped out by the porters. (Everyone not just us). Husband tried to walk to get car and had to flag down a taxi. He finally got back to get us around 10:30 2 hours later than if we had docked where we parked. I don't know who screwed up on this but it was bad. It was a bad ending to a good week.

I don't think we will ever cruise on a Ship that is only there for a few weeks before moving on. This was the 1st one the Star did after a 30 day South America Cruise. I'm sure the staff was tired after that long of a cruise, plus some of the staff was still in Chile because they had left the ship because of families living in Chile that were in the earthquake (we were told this by some of the staff). The cruise director was probably okay for that kind of cruise, but I think for a Caribbean Cruise you need someone a little more upbeat.

Entertainment was lacking, but I think that was because of the short term in Ft. Lauderdale before going to Copenhagen. We had fun, and the price was really good, the ports were really good, and the weather was awesome. Just a few little minor things. We love Princess and will be back. :)

[Dietemann]

Enjoyed your review. We will be boarding the Star this Saturday (24th) to take her to Copenhagen. We have anytime dining, so will try the Capri, sounds like you had good experiences there except for the last night. It has been our experience on prior Princess cruises that good service almost totally disappears at the end of the cruise, especially on the last day. We look forward to our cruise and are curious as to what conditions await us in Europe.

[Kinkacruiser]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm always interested in any reviews re the Star Princess at this time. Happy you had a lovely holiday.

[BalconyGal]

Thank you for your review. I love Grand Turk too!

[khfadpi]

Enjoyed your review. We will be boarding the Star this Saturday (24th) to take her to Copenhagen. We have anytime dining, so will try the Capri, sounds like you had good experiences there except for the last night. It has been our experience on prior Princess cruises that good service almost totally disappears at the end of the cruise, especially on the last day. We look forward to our cruise and are curious as to what conditions await us in Europe.

 

The thing was that the Portofino would have a line, but if you walked down to 5 you could walk right in the Capri. Have a good time on the transatlantic. Hope the seas are calm.

[Dietemann]

The thing was that the Portofino would have a line, but if you walked down to 5 you could walk right in the Capri. Have a good time on the transatlantic. Hope the seas are calm.

 

Thanks, I'll try my best.

[beachpeach1]

We sailed on the Star the week of 4/3 also and have to agree with OP. Food was definitely a step lower than the last time we were on the ship. Also thought shows were disappointing. Our steward and waiter/assistant waiter were wonderful, but we were disappointed in the food the most. The islands were wonderful, beautiful weather and fun tours. Disembarkation was a nightmare; apparently the hold-up was a hose? Felt sorry for anyone with an early flight out. But that certainly didn't diminish the fun that we had all week with our family.

[sultan_sfo]

The way you wrote about the food implies that OP also thought so! I don't read this in OP's review.

 

We sailed on the Star the week of 4/3 also and have to agree with OP. Food was definitely a step lower than the last time we were on the ship.

...

[khfadpi]

Actually we thought the food was pretty good. When you are feeding 2800+, it's not going to be like having a private chef. I did think they had some odd choices on the 2nd formal night ( lobster and king prawns and beef wellington were the next night on a smart casual night after Grand Turk) but I had the skirt steak fajitas and they were very good. They had some really good fried shrimp in the buffet for lunch one day too. We sailed on RCCL Liberty of the Seas last New Year's and the food was good, but we think Princess is the best for food. There is always something to eat. And they now have the free soft serve ice cream ant Scoops.:)

[beachpeach1]

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that OP didn't like food. Meant that I agree with the overall summary of the trip. But I do feel that the food was not as good as previous cruises. Two nights I didn't finish the soup because it wasn't good--asparagus soup tasted like the water it was cooked in; pumpkin soup was horrible. The sirloin steak on Thursday (maybe Friday) was fatty and tasteless. I know that I could have asked for other entrees or soups if I didn't care for them and didn't because I didn't want to hold up the rest of the table. But I was definitely disappointed in the food on this cruise. Also, had been looking forward to International Cafe, especially chicken salad, from all that has been posted. Again, very disappointed. Didn't care for any of the sandwiches, but the desserts were great! We ate breakfast in the dining room each day and enjoyed each of these meals. Didn't go to Horizon Court at all, since I don't care for buffet. On positive note, once I figured out how to use the cash-less slot machines, it was easy to use. Although, I did miss the jingle-jingle-jingle of the coins falling on a win!!!

[Scouse]

Khfadpi,

 

Thanks for the interesting review. Do you recall the name of the Captain on you cruise?

[khfadpi]

His name was Edward Perrin. English of course. We saw him around the ship quiet a bit. He preformed an outside wedding on Monday (the sea day that was very windy) up top just below Skywalkers. Lots of people watched, then he went around and talked to the crowd.